Lauren Mastrobuono:
I greatly enjoyed the essay, "The Greatest Obstacle We Face:. I found that there were a great deal of truths within it. To answer the question of 'Do you blame any one person for making you play the Game of School?' I would have to say no. I think the main point of the essay is that the Game of School continues because it is enforced and accepted my so many different people. As the essay states, "it can seem easier, at times, to pretend to believe rather than to truly believe in the value of what we are really about" (p. 95). This is a sad truth. Administrators, teachers, parents and students all play their roles in the Game of School. It's not fair for us as students to blame someone for making us play the game when "it's as though by the middle of first grade [we've] already figured out that school... is a trick, something to learn how to get around" (p. 95).
Virginia Kreger: I agree with this as well. I nanny a second grader, and I can already tell that she has figured out how to play this game of school. She doesn't learn for fun, she just rushes through her homework and gets enough of the answers correct so she can just breeze through elementary school without making much of an effort. I'm not sure if it's the teachers or the parents or the students who make it this way, it's almost as if everyone views education as a chore. I remember when I was in elementary school the teachers put much more effort into actually teaching their students and not just viewing them as test scores. I know that by creating these standardized tests it has helped a lot of schools to become equal in a lot of ways, but it is also holding back many students who could be excelling and instead they are just being told to meet the standard and nothing more. I think school systems need to take their focus off of these tests and focus on the more important task of inspiring learning, especially in the younger years of school which is where the passion for learning should be the strongest.
Hannah Gardner:
I had always thought of school in the same way that the author explains. It seemed like everyone around me was completing work and answering questions just because they needed to do that in order to succeed. The only way to break this game is to find students who are passionate about learning and teachers who are passionate about teaching. When the two combine, there will be no more "Game of School". Unfortunately though this probably will not happen for a long time. Many teachers start off passionate about the subject that they teach but slowly they lose interest after teaching for so many years. How many people can say that they had an old teacher who was there just for the money? Probably most of us. I do not blame anyone for creating this Game; education has evolved to be very passive. When a student realizes a teacher is only assigning work to assign work and not to learn anything, he is not going to put in the effort to complete it at a high standard. It is only when a teacher demands excellent work that students will put in the effort to do the work and essentially learn. Education MUST be active, not passive. We should take the time to learn and learn effectively rather than sit and regurgitate information.
A friend and I were actually have a discussion about education systems right before I read this article. My brother goes to The Met School in Providence. It is an internship-based school where the students essentially decide what they want to study. There are obviously standard requirements, such as math, science, and history, but ultimately the student decides how to learn. What do you think is more successful? A traditional school system or a curriculum like The Met? Which students are more motivated to learn? Would they be playing the Game of School as well or is it different? If anyone has any thoughts I would love to hear them.
Allie Loiselle I remember a Martin Luther King Jr. quote that says "Nothing pains some people more than having to think." It couldn't be more true. There has been such a vicious cycle of lowered expectations and lack of respect between parents, students, teachers, and administration that we have become completely satisfied with mediocrity. It is not just the "Game of school," it is in every aspect of our lives that we seem content to simply scrape by, avoiding all "unneccesary" knowledge. I may be a pessimist but I don't believe there is any way to beat the game as a whole. Ignorance is, has, and always will be part of the way the world works.
Kristin Orabone
I would also have to say that I don't blame any one person for "making me play the game of school". After hearing professor Folgemen tell us about how he felt the same way about the game of school and reading the article about it, I was in a little bit of shock. I never really thought about how I was also a student just going through the motions. I can honestly say that throughout my entire high school career I never really questioned why we had to do something because I knew that I would be given the answer of "because you need it to graduate or you'll use this in the real world". That was another thing, in high school, my teachers would often say that we were going to need to know this for the real world but they usually failed to tell us why. Also by going along with Hannah's last question (stated above) my opinion is that maybe public schools should follow similar curriculum like the Met school. I think that students will become more focused and engaged in their work because it is directly focused towards their field of interest. Though I can't pinpoint one particular person (teacher, parent, administrators, students, etc.) who make education to seem like just a game. Truthfully I think that it comes from a mix of all those people.
Shaina Fimbel
I think it is extremely sad that school is just a game. Thankfully, I'm glad that I usually don't play it. There has always been times where I'm sure that every student has given in and done the minimal amount of work because they know it won't make a difference. The thing that has bothered me the most with the "game of school" is the lack of effort it really takes to succeed. These days students can produce average C quality work and still receive an A, while people who go above and beyond are rewarded the same amount. Just today in my URI 101 class my professor was talking about how it's good to show your teacher that you put forth a lot of effort, because when you're on the border between a B+ and an A-, they're going to give you the A. While I love that fact and I'm sure it has worked towards my advantage before, is it really fair? If i have only done B+ work, why should I be rewarded the extra points?
Sasha Gold
I agree that school is just a game as all throughout all of high school I saw many of my peers doing the minimal amount of work that it took to get a passing grade. Cheating was extremely common, unfortunately, and because teacher's would let students get away with it, they would receive much higher grades than they deserved. I try my best not to play the Game, but every once in a while in high school, especially towards the end of my senior year I definitely did the least amount of work because I was so focused on getting out.
Though making drastic changes can be difficult, I think it would be possible to alter the schooling systems. I think in order to eradicate the Game of School a few things must occur. First of all, I firmly agree with Hannah in that I think that teachers shouldn't be chosen at random and instead they should be extremely passionate about what they are teaching. I think it could also help if teachers were paid more. Additionally, though teachers play an intricate part in learning, I think the behaviors of students also needs to change. I think if students were interested in what they were learning or had more say in what they could take during schooling, I believe they would put more effort into learning and therefore be more successful students.
I greatly enjoyed the essay, "The Greatest Obstacle We Face:. I found that there were a great deal of truths within it. To answer the question of 'Do you blame any one person for making you play the Game of School?' I would have to say no. I think the main point of the essay is that the Game of School continues because it is enforced and accepted my so many different people. As the essay states, "it can seem easier, at times, to pretend to believe rather than to truly believe in the value of what we are really about" (p. 95). This is a sad truth. Administrators, teachers, parents and students all play their roles in the Game of School. It's not fair for us as students to blame someone for making us play the game when "it's as though by the middle of first grade [we've] already figured out that school... is a trick, something to learn how to get around" (p. 95).
Virginia Kreger:
I agree with this as well. I nanny a second grader, and I can already tell that she has figured out how to play this game of school. She doesn't learn for fun, she just rushes through her homework and gets enough of the answers correct so she can just breeze through elementary school without making much of an effort. I'm not sure if it's the teachers or the parents or the students who make it this way, it's almost as if everyone views education as a chore. I remember when I was in elementary school the teachers put much more effort into actually teaching their students and not just viewing them as test scores. I know that by creating these standardized tests it has helped a lot of schools to become equal in a lot of ways, but it is also holding back many students who could be excelling and instead they are just being told to meet the standard and nothing more. I think school systems need to take their focus off of these tests and focus on the more important task of inspiring learning, especially in the younger years of school which is where the passion for learning should be the strongest.
Hannah Gardner:
I had always thought of school in the same way that the author explains. It seemed like everyone around me was completing work and answering questions just because they needed to do that in order to succeed. The only way to break this game is to find students who are passionate about learning and teachers who are passionate about teaching. When the two combine, there will be no more "Game of School". Unfortunately though this probably will not happen for a long time. Many teachers start off passionate about the subject that they teach but slowly they lose interest after teaching for so many years. How many people can say that they had an old teacher who was there just for the money? Probably most of us. I do not blame anyone for creating this Game; education has evolved to be very passive. When a student realizes a teacher is only assigning work to assign work and not to learn anything, he is not going to put in the effort to complete it at a high standard. It is only when a teacher demands excellent work that students will put in the effort to do the work and essentially learn. Education MUST be active, not passive. We should take the time to learn and learn effectively rather than sit and regurgitate information.
A friend and I were actually have a discussion about education systems right before I read this article. My brother goes to The Met School in Providence. It is an internship-based school where the students essentially decide what they want to study. There are obviously standard requirements, such as math, science, and history, but ultimately the student decides how to learn. What do you think is more successful? A traditional school system or a curriculum like The Met? Which students are more motivated to learn? Would they be playing the Game of School as well or is it different? If anyone has any thoughts I would love to hear them.
Allie Loiselle
I remember a Martin Luther King Jr. quote that says "Nothing pains some people more than having to think." It couldn't be more true. There has been such a vicious cycle of lowered expectations and lack of respect between parents, students, teachers, and administration that we have become completely satisfied with mediocrity. It is not just the "Game of school," it is in every aspect of our lives that we seem content to simply scrape by, avoiding all "unneccesary" knowledge. I may be a pessimist but I don't believe there is any way to beat the game as a whole. Ignorance is, has, and always will be part of the way the world works.
Kristin Orabone
I would also have to say that I don't blame any one person for "making me play the game of school". After hearing professor Folgemen tell us about how he felt the same way about the game of school and reading the article about it, I was in a little bit of shock. I never really thought about how I was also a student just going through the motions. I can honestly say that throughout my entire high school career I never really questioned why we had to do something because I knew that I would be given the answer of "because you need it to graduate or you'll use this in the real world". That was another thing, in high school, my teachers would often say that we were going to need to know this for the real world but they usually failed to tell us why. Also by going along with Hannah's last question (stated above) my opinion is that maybe public schools should follow similar curriculum like the Met school. I think that students will become more focused and engaged in their work because it is directly focused towards their field of interest. Though I can't pinpoint one particular person (teacher, parent, administrators, students, etc.) who make education to seem like just a game. Truthfully I think that it comes from a mix of all those people.
Shaina Fimbel
I think it is extremely sad that school is just a game. Thankfully, I'm glad that I usually don't play it. There has always been times where I'm sure that every student has given in and done the minimal amount of work because they know it won't make a difference. The thing that has bothered me the most with the "game of school" is the lack of effort it really takes to succeed. These days students can produce average C quality work and still receive an A, while people who go above and beyond are rewarded the same amount. Just today in my URI 101 class my professor was talking about how it's good to show your teacher that you put forth a lot of effort, because when you're on the border between a B+ and an A-, they're going to give you the A. While I love that fact and I'm sure it has worked towards my advantage before, is it really fair? If i have only done B+ work, why should I be rewarded the extra points?
Sasha Gold
I agree that school is just a game as all throughout all of high school I saw many of my peers doing the minimal amount of work that it took to get a passing grade. Cheating was extremely common, unfortunately, and because teacher's would let students get away with it, they would receive much higher grades than they deserved. I try my best not to play the Game, but every once in a while in high school, especially towards the end of my senior year I definitely did the least amount of work because I was so focused on getting out.
Though making drastic changes can be difficult, I think it would be possible to alter the schooling systems. I think in order to eradicate the Game of School a few things must occur. First of all, I firmly agree with Hannah in that I think that teachers shouldn't be chosen at random and instead they should be extremely passionate about what they are teaching. I think it could also help if teachers were paid more. Additionally, though teachers play an intricate part in learning, I think the behaviors of students also needs to change. I think if students were interested in what they were learning or had more say in what they could take during schooling, I believe they would put more effort into learning and therefore be more successful students.